Amusement apparatus



Patented Augrld, i923.

wILLIAIiI s. lrorrrrnr., or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. y

nivmsnrfriinr APPARATUS.

is i g Application filed AugustlO, 1922. Serial No. 580,855.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I7 WILLIAM S. TorIIILL, acitizen of the United States,and a resident yof Chicago,"lin the countyof Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements Y' in 'AmusementApparatus, vof ;which thenfollowing. is af specification, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawing. s Thisinvention relates to,improvements in that type. ofamusement` devices `wherein is provided; afixedV standard that supports at its upper end a rotatablefheadorturntable from which load-supporting means aresus pcnded. One example ofsuch typefofapparatusfis the device Vshown-.and described in Letterslfatent-l`lo.V 762,959, granted tome on the' `lstday of June, 1904,'andv commonly vknow-n as aGiant stride. TMy present invention issho'wnin connection with a device of that charactenbut it isto; be understoodthat itsuse is not iconiined to devices of-that particular kind. #Inthe'device shown in said-patent5 andgindeedyin rotary f 25.centrally-supported amusement .devices it has been, .commonto employanti-friction ball-bearings for the rotary:head,"'and while suchconstructions have 'been' in; all respects satisfactory so` far aspermitting` a smooth 30 and ,easy rotationy is concerned, itihas beenfound V'more `expensive VV'tol` construct* and maintain thanis-desirable.'lr Itis the object of the present invention to providea'simple 1 and inexpensive'gmeansfor connecting the rotatable headiortable with -thesupporting standard 'and havingthe parts so'constructedfand arranged asto receive land hold aV comparatively largeainount of lubricant 'so as toensurethe easy turning ofthe head or tablefor a long periodof time. VI accomplish this object by the constructionand ar-l rangement of'parts shown in the drawing andl hereinafter jparticularly described. That which I'believe to be'new will be set forthin Vthe claims.

Fig. l isa vertical central section through theupper portion ot `thesupporting standf ard and the hub or central part of the rotatable heador tablefthatis connectedtherewith? a `smallpart ofthe hollow plug inthe upper Vportion of the standardfbeing broken away tofshowthe key thatholds itin place I. Fig. Q-isan lenlarged verticalV section;

taken-'atthe li'neg2f2 of Fig. 1; and

by reference `to Fig, Q that chambers are contain a liquid lubricant.`To conduct the F ig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section taken at the line8.*-8 vof Fig. l. i f

Referring to the several figures of theV draw1ng, '5 indicates astandard whichis adapted to be ixedly secured in place in anyordinarymanner so as to hold it iirmlyz-n an upright position.v Suchstandard, as here shown, is cylindrical in shape and best formed of aheavy piece of pipe. In its up- Y per end is snugly litted alcomparatively long` khollow plug-6 open at its `upper end and the upperend .portion being flanged,as

Vindicated by '.7, to adapt itto rest upon the upper end. of the tubularStande-13d 5. Through the central portion of the closed lowerendof theplug 6 is a tapped opening through which is screwed a heavy bolt 8, theinner end of which is tapered to form a' conical bearingfor a shaft 9whose lower end is correspondingly shaped and rests -upon said bolt'.reis will be understood, by a turning of the bolt theposition of theshaft 9 can be easilyr'egulated, and by means 'of a nut lOon the bolttheV desired adjusted po- 4 sition can be maintained. Located'within uthe hollow plug7 bua-'in the`construction shown, not extending the fulllength of such plug, is a lining member Il in the forni of a sleeve thatsurrounds the shaft 9 and serves as a sidebearing therefor, so asY toensure a smooth vrotation of the shaft andtalre up any side thrustthereof. VBy reason of the length of 'this sleeve bearing relatively tothe length of the hollow'plug, it will be seen u provided inthe plugboth above and below said sleeve bearing, the upper chamber be' ingindicated byv12 and the lower chamber by 13.- Each of these chambers is4provided for the purpose of containing lubricant material and,whiler'the upper chamber will preferably be used forcontaining grease crsome such semi-solidlubricant, the lower chamber will preferably beemployed to 10o liquid lubricant to the lower chamber I provide one ormore passages through the wall of the hollow plug. In fthe constructionshown these passages are two in number and extend diagonally downwardfrom theV up` per end of the plug and 'at their lower ends end asgrooves in the face of the wall of the plug.'- The two lubricantpassages referred to are'each indicated by 14. Over the upper end oftheYstandard is a closure member 154, l1@

.which may be secured to the standard in any lubricant passages and theupper lubricant chamber, but, as shown, it will be provided with acentral opening for the passage therethrough of the shaft`9. The plug isheld firmly in place by a tapered keybla that-nts acorrespondingly-shaped opening in the wall of the plug. Y

Secured to the projecting upper end portionof theY shaft 9 is the.rotatable `loadcarrying memberV which, as indicated in Fig. 1,-is hereshown as intended for use asV a Giantstride apparatus, such as shown inmy said Letters Patentfthe said loadcarrying member having shownconnected with it one of the ladder-lil e devices as in said patent. Asbefore mentioned, the load- 'carrying 'rotatable member may sustainother forms of devices. The load-carrying member, as here shown, is ofwheel shape, and` the heavy hub Vportion thereof is indicated by'l6 andthe two spokes that are shown in the drawing, and which are bolted tothe hub member, are indicated by 17.

lAsshown, the hub member 16 is mounted centrally upon a reduced portionof the shaft 9 and rests upon theshoulder that is formedvby reason ofsuch lesser sized diameter of the Vupper part of the shaft. lt isadaptedto be secured firmly to the shaft by the Jimpinging of fa bolt 18threaded through the' hub portion 16. lt of course may be secured'to theshaft iii any otherA suitable manner. 1W ith this rotatable membei'formed of wheel shape, it is desirable to firmly brace the several armsthereof together, and, in theV construction shown, l have provided forthis by the use of a heavy i rod or band 19-of annular shape that liesvin notchescut in the ends of these armssee` lig.V l. The weightsustaining devices are adapted to be attached in any suitable Way to theouter end portions of theV arms 17, and as here shown each arm isprovided with a depending hook 20 to which is se- V Vcured a rope orcable 2l that carries a ladder-like device QQ-the provision of theseladder-like devices enabling children to hang onto them'after startingthe head or table to rotating, all as fully explainedY in my said formerpatent. By the use of my invention all necessity 'for' ball or rollerbearings, in connectionk with a rotatable head or table member, is doneaway with, but by reason of the bearing of the lower Y end ofthe shaftl9 on the point of the bolt titi 8, and the sustaining of such shaft in aperfectly vertical manner as described, the roe tation of the head ortable willbe as smooth and easy asf if such former anti-'frictionVdevices Vwere employed. Furthermore, b v reason of the provision 'of thetwo lubri-V cant-containing chambers within Vthe hollow plug the shaftthroughout its bearing portions will be perfectly lubricated, and,inasmuch as such chambers areofconsiderable size, they will containquantities of lubricant that will be suiicient for long periods oftime.. .i

l/Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is D l. An amusement apparatus comprising in combination .a hollowstandard, a hollow plug in the upper end portionlof said standard, ashaft projecting-into said plug, abearing carried by the plug for the3lowerr end of the shaft,and av head secured to the upper portion ofsaid shaftso as to rotate therewith. Y J

2. An amusement apparatus comprising in combination a hollow standard, ahollow plug in the upper end portion of said standard, said plughavingat its upper end al flange that rests upon thezupper end of thestandard, a shaft projecting intosaid plug, a bearing carriedvby .theplug for thelow'er end ofthe shaft, and a head securedto the upperportionlof said shaft so as-to rotate in combination a hollowstandarchahollow plug secured in the upper endportion Vof the standard,"a shaftrprojecting int`o. `said plug, a bearing: carried bytheyplug-"for the lower end of .the shaftg'a sleeve-bearing within theplugand surrounding said-shaft,- said sleeve-bearing being of lesslength than the plug Vand located intermediate the ends'A of the plug toprovide a lubricant chamber opposite eachiend of-'the"'plug, `and alhead secured to the upper Vl'aortion of said shaft so'ras to rotatetherewith. D pAn amusement apparatus comprising in combination hollowstandard, a hollow plug secured inthe upper-endportion .of the standard,a shaftprojec'tinginto said plug, a bearing carried-by the plugfor'thellower end of the shaft, said plug having a passage extending Vdownwardlythrough its wall from the'upperi end thereoffor conducting lubricant tothe lower-part :of said plug, and a headsecuiedV tothe VVupper porn tionof said shaft so as; to 4rotate therewith.

6. AnA amusement apparatus @comprising in combination a hollow standard,a hollow plug secured :in the upper end portion of the standard, ashaftprojecting intoy said plug, a bearing carried by the plug for the lowerend of the shaft, a sleeve-bearing for the shaft, said sleeve-bearingbeing located intermediate the ends of the plug to pro- 5 vide lubricantchambers in the'plug opposite the upper and lower ends of said sleevebearing, a passage through the wall of the plug from the upper endthereof for con ducting lubricant to the lower one of said chambers, acap surrounding said shaft 1o over the upper end of the standard forclosing said passage and also the upper one of said chambers, and a headsecured to the upper portion of said shaft so as to rota-te therewith.

l WILLIAM S. TOTHILL.

